Page 32
Kaieteur News
Saturday January 09, 2016
GABA League semis BVA season serves off continues tonight at CASH today at Blairmont
The Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) has indicated that the match-ups for the Division I and Under-23 titles are decided with just two games remaining in ‘regular season’. The GABA League had taken a break for the Christmas Season. In the Division I, Dyna’s Ravens will play Bounty Colts in one of the semi-finals tomorrow night while Plaisance Guardians take on University of Guyana Trojans in the other semi-finals tonight in the featured game at the Cliff Anderson Sports
Hall. It is not sure who national forward, Akeem Kanhai will suit up for in the semis since he plays on both UG and Ravens teams, an anomaly that needs correction. However, Quincy Easton and the Trojans are playing in their first Division I Final Four. It will be an uphill task for them against Nikkoloi Smith and Guardians. Interestingly, Pacesetters who are the current National Champions, will not play for the GABA Division I title, giving way to two Final Four newcomers, UG and Guardians.
In the Division II competition, Eagles will take on Patriots while the night gets underway with a Pacesetters vs Ravens U-23 semi-final tonight. The first U-23 semi-finals, which brought Eagles and Colts together was played last night at the same venue. Republic Bank Nets and Knights will contest a Division II semi-final tomorrow night. The finals of the League are slated for next week. The GABA said in a press release yesterday that all finals will be contested in a best-in-three format.
The Berbice Volleyball Association (BVA) is set to serve off 2016 season today with the staging of the Ashwell ‘Pumpkin’ Mohabir Open one-day competition at the Blairmont No2 ground, West Bank Berbice beginning at 10:00hrs. Prizes, trophies and other
memorabilia will be at stake for the winning and runnerup teams as well as outstanding individual players including the best setter, best spiker, most discipline team and the best uniformed team. Among the teams set to compete are Port Mourant Training Centre 1, 2, & 3, Port
Mourant Jaguars, Strikers, Albion United, Tain Humanitarian, Corriverton Jets, No 52 Survival and Port Mourant Jaguars. Two female teams have also been entered, Black Birds Volleyball Club and Corriverton. Competition will be in the senior, females and junior categories.
RHTY&SC host successful Christmas Village/Christmas Charity Programmes
The truth will come out one way or the other By Rawle Welch After many years of silence and cover-ups, the international sports landscape is experiencing a major shakeup thanks to US Attorney General Loretta Lynch and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Lynch, who has been responsible for massive investigations of fraud within the powerful FIFA displayed marvelous courage in bringing down some of the most influential and powerful administrators in the Sport including its President Sepp Blatter and many of his loyal lieutenants. WADA on the other hand recently revealed the findings of its investigations into doping scandals involving the powerful Russia which has resulted in the country’s immediate suspension from world athletics that could also affect its participation at this year’s Olympics in Rio. The results have implicated three major figures in
the sport including the son of former President of the International Association of Athletics (IAAF) Lamine Diack and two Russian officials who were all slapped with life bans. In the football arena, Blatter, former Presidential aspirant Michel Platini, General Secretary Jerome Valcke, CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb are among the ‘big’ names to suffer at the hands of the US Attorney General’s actions and the FIFA Ethics Committee respectively for suspected corrupt activities stemming from lengthy investigations. These examples of justice being served should be a wakeup call for local officials who believe that they can act with impunity and escape punishment. Lynch has demonstrated that the long arm of the law can reach across nations and it would not be surprising if the tentacles of her entity reach the shores of this nation. The football arena has
long been the subject of corruption and those who held the reins of power patently failed to address certain pertinent issues in relation to the sport’s governance both in terms of finance and administration and perhaps it will take the presence of Lynch’s staffers to let us know the real facts. We can no longer depend on inconclusive audits that are happy to report the absence of pertinent information, but rather the forensic investigation of a credible organisation that cannot be easily compromised. For a small country that plays very little football internationally, the debt burden is unbelievable and while several audits have been conducted, the conclusions seem just as unbelievable as the stated liability. The truth will come out one way or the other and when it does it will be a day that local fans of the sport had hoped for, for years.
GCB extends condolences to Chandrika on the passing of his father The executive and staff of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) have extended condolences to Guyana and West Indies player Rajendra
Chandrika on the passing of his father Baljit Chandrika earlier this week. In a release the GCB noted that it is never easy to lose a
Mix Up, Scramblers register wins Mix Up and Scramblers recorded victories when the Faye Joseph free-entry dominoes tournament continued on Wednesday night at Gaulding Place, South Ruimveldt. Mix Up chalked up 70 games to beat C Point 67 and Spartons 55. Andrea Foo and Ganesh Sankar scored 16 each for the winners while Oswald Clavis got 16 and
Colin Mc Ewan 15 for the runner up team. Spartons leading players were Rawl Peters with 17 and Linden Bowman 1 4 . Scramblers marked 75 games to win their encounter ahead of Specialist on 70 and Hotshot 69. Basil Bradshaw made 16 for Scramblers; Andrew Mendonca scored 16 (Continued on page 27)
loved one, especially a parent. “Rajendra was very close to his father and looked up to him for guidance and support. We share his pain and grief and extend our most heartfelt sympathy for his loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family during this difficult time and we wish him peace, comfort and courage to face the days ahead.” The has urged young Chandrika to keep the memories of his father alive by continuing to progress in the sport. “His father was his biggest fan and was proud of his achievements. Remain committed to the sport and forge ahead in the future,” the release concluded.
First Lady Mrs. Sandra Granger flicks the switch to turn on the lights for the Christmas Village. At left is Minister of Tourism Ms Cathy Hughes. The eight cricket teams of Guyana‘s leading youth and sports organisation, the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club from December 20-24, 2015 successfully hosted Berbice’s first ever Christmas Village in the compound of the Rose Hall Town Primary School. The historic event was a joint effort between the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club, its cricket teams - Rose Hall Town Farfan & Mendes Under-15, Bakewell Under-17 and Second Division, Pepsi Under-19 and Intermediate, Metro Female and Gizmos & Gadgets Under-21 and First Division and the Ministry of Tourism. Thousands of Berbicians visited the Village and for many children it was a first time experience. The club’s Secretary/ CEO, Hilbert Foster described the Christmas Village as challenging but said it was a huge success as they achieved all of objectives. The Village, Foster stated allowed many to experience the old tradition of celebrating Christmas in a peaceful and respectful manner with the birth of Jesus being the main theme. The entire compound of the Rose Hall Town Primary School was transformed into a dreamland with Christmas characters, fairy lights and children characters. The Village also included the Nativity Scene, Santa, his sleigh and reindeers, a 20 feet locally made Christmas Tree with plastic bottles, Christmas
games and fun park, a very popular Horror House, Computer games section, a photo studio and food booths. First Lady Mrs. Sandra Granger and Minister of Tourism Ms Cathy Hughes were present at the opening of the Village and both hailed the Club for its vision of hosting. Foster expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Culture, the Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce, Nand Persaud Co. Ltd, Gizmos & Gadgets, Bakewell, Scotia Bank, Edward B. Beharry, the Ministry of Education, Region 6 Regional Democratic Council, Rainbow Signs, Rose Hall Town Primary School, “B” Division of the Guyana Police Force, Guyana Fire Service, Berbice Division of the Guyana Prison Service, Poonai Drugs Store, Balram Shane Store, Décor Gift Gallery, China Trading, Guyana Beverage Company, National Communication Network and Berbice Regional Health Authority for their support of the Christmas Village and announced that the event would be an annual one by the Club. This would be undertaken by the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club, based on the response from the general public who all expressed pleasure that families were able to enjoy Christmas in a special way. Meanwhile, the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club was also able to successfully complete its annual multi-million dollar Charity
Programmes despite having to host the Christmas Village. This year’s programmes included sharing toys to 1500 less fortunate Children, 300 food hampers to less fortunate families, clothing to children, general feeding of the poor programmes, visits to Children and Senior Citizens homes in Berbice among others. The main objectives of the programmes were to make positive difference in the lives of others during the festive season. Foster praised his fellow executives, members of the cricket teams and the Club’s Over-35 Section for their hard work and dedication towards making all the plans for the season a reality. The Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club would like to express gratitude to all the major sponsors of its 2015 Christmas Charity Programme especially the Bank of Nova Scotia, H.A. Snacks Co. Ltd, Toucan Industries, Busta, Sueria Inc, DDl, Edward B. Beharry Co. Ltd, Impression, Starr Computers, Ansa Mcal Trading, Namilco, Fitness Express, F & H Printery, De Sinco Trading, H.A Nauth, Narine’s Trading, the Gift centre, Tiger’s Sports Len’s Craft, Woodpecker’s Sports, Kanhai’s Electrical, Gizmos & Gadgets, Farfan & Mendes Ltd, Sentinel Security, Guyana Lottery Company, Bermudez, China’s Trading, Bounty Farm Ltd, A. M Khan and John Lewis Styles among numerous others.